You can ALMOST be an astronaut for a mere $75,000

World View Enterprises has gotten FAA approval to take budget-minded space enthusiasts up into near-space in an over-sized soda can with windows, suspended by a high-altitude balloon. Passengers will spend two hours gawking and gasping at views of both the blackness of space and the curvature of the Earth from an altitude of 19 miles (98,000 feet).

Though this is technically not outer space – generally considered to start at an altitude of 62 miles (100 km) – it nevertheless looks like a pulse-quickening, jaw-slackening thrill ride, in so much as gently floating can be a thrill.

No information was provided on the critical topic of how over-stimulated passengers will discreetly void their bladders.